


Small Comforts

by charizardfreak



Series: Gentron Week 2019 [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura doesn't know how to handle this and would very much like for someone else to rescue her, Gen, I just want Allura and Pidge to be friends guys, Platonic Pallura, Sick Fic, Sleepy Cuddles, everyone has anxiety and insomnia, is that too much to ask, mentions of Pidge's family, projection? in my fanfic? it's more likely than you think, they're in the middle of a freaking war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-31 05:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20109814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charizardfreak/pseuds/charizardfreak
Summary: Allura always wanted to be closer to Pidge. This was a bit more literal than she meant.Prompt: Bed-sharing/Sleepover





	Small Comforts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Gentron Week! Prompt: Bed-Sharing/Sleepover
> 
> Timeline: Somewhere around late s1/early s2

Pidge was exhausted and groggy. 

She coughed for the thousandth time but ignored it and powered on. 

Or, at least, she was trying to.

The screen in front of her was blurry, numbers swimming in her eyes. Lines of code that she knew by heart were starting to look like they were written in some alien language. She glanced at the time but could hardly make that out either. Was that first number a 2 or a 5?

Whatever, the point was that it was late, she was sick, and she really should be in bed right now...

But a horrible anxiety kept her sitting in her Lion’s hanger, glued to her laptop. What if something happened; what if she missed something? What if information on her family came through, and she missed it because she was laying around over some stupid cold…

She groaned, pressing her hands against her face, like the pressure could stop it from aching. She was uncomfortably hot, and she felt like she’d been kicked right in the sinuses. 

She could sense a gentle nudging at some corner of her foggy mind. The Green Lion was sympathetic to her Paladin’s struggles, but there wasn’t a lot she could do to help, much to her frustration. 

“I’m fine Green. Just a few more minutes,” Pidge said aloud. 

More nudging. 

Pidge groaned again. It was hard enough to concentrate without Green pestering her the whole time. 

“Please stop,” Pidge growled. Or, rather, tried to; it sounded like a much more pathetic whine. 

The nudging intensified, a low growl accompanying it this time. 

“Fine!” Pidge snapped, “I’ll go to bed!” 

The nudging stopped, replaced by a gentle purr. 

“Oh, you’ll be nice now that I’m doing what you want,” she grumbled as she struggled to her feet. Was she slurring her words? They felt weird coming out her mouth. She stood up straight; much too fast, apparently as she felt light headed all the sudden. 

“Uh… Green?” she managed to get out as she pitched forward, vision going dark.

The last thing she was aware of was an alarmed roar echoing through her mind as she passed out completely.

***

Allura wandered the hallways of her castle aimlessly, shaking her head a little at a strange ringing in her ears. She’d left the mice curled up on her pillow; it seemed her little friends never had any trouble sleeping. 

Allura was a bit envious.

She often found it very hard to sleep. Memories of home, nightmares of past events, and fear and stress over the war kept her awake most nights. 

She’d make rounds to keep an eye out for the Castle's occupants. It wasn’t uncommon to hear Keith on the training deck beating his frustrations out on the bots. She’d often catch a whiff of Hunk cooking in the kitchen, “stress baking”, as he called it. Every once in awhile, she'd see a glimpse of Lance by some window staring out into space as if he could see all the way to Earth if he just tried hard enough… 

She’d usually run into Shiro, making his own rounds. On many nights she’d find Coran cleaning or fixing some part of the castleship. And, as she’d make her way to check on each Lion, she’d almost always find Pidge hunched over her computer with her Lion keeping watch as she desperately searched for her family. 

This was the sight she expected to see as she approached the Green Lion's hanger. Usually she would just peak her head around the corner, see that Pidge was there and that she was okay, and then leave unnoticed. She'd learned the hard way that trying to talk her into going to bed was nearly impossible. But as she neared the door, she noticed something felt… off. 

Allura had a connection to all of the Lions, thanks to her father. It was weak, seeing as she wasn’t a Paladin, but it was there all the same. She was just starting to notice it, but the ringing in her ears was getting louder as she approached the hanger. A strange sense of panic swelled inside her, but…

It wasn’t _her_ panic.

Alarmed, she broke into a run. As she burst in the hanger, the first thing she noticed was that the Green Lion wasn’t in her usual sitting position. She was on her feet, golden eyes glowing like spot lights as she hovered over a very tiny girl splayed out between her paws. Her head swiveled slightly to look at Allura, whose spine tingled at the intense stare she received. 

Allura moved quickly over to Pidge, searching her for injuries. Her skin was hot to the touch, but she was shaking. She seemed to be half-awake, mumbling confused nonsense. Allura frowned. She was unfamiliar with human sicknesses, and didn’t know what to do to help her, but it was likely Coran would. 

She scooped Pidge up, aware of Green shifting around above them, moving back to her normal spot. As she took off through the door holding Pidge tight to her chest, she threw a glance over at the Lion, who was sitting back down, still powered on, watching them. 

_It’s okay. I’ll take care of her,_ Allura thought. 

Green purred for a tick, then her eyes went dark.

***

After contacting Coran and meeting him (and Shiro) in the med bay, she learned that Pidge had a simple “flu" virus. According to Shiro, it could be deadly if untreated, but with proper care most people recovered fine on their own. The healing pods were useless against viruses, so there was nothing to do for it except treat the symptoms until her body fought it off on its own. 

Shiro didn’t seem too concerned, but Allura could help but worry every time Pidge’s tiny half-conscious body was wracked with tremendous coughs. Coran figured the best place for her to recover would be her own room and Allura immediately volunteered to take her there. Shiro seemed surprised and Allura didn’t blame him; she and Pidge were not close. Allura hoped to change that one day, but for now…

Coran had given Pidge medicine to help with the coughing and the fever, with orders for Allura to stay with her until she was coherent enough to take care of herself. Shiro also stressed the importance of fluids several times before they had finally let Allura take Pidge to her room.

So now Allura found herself in Pidge’s room. It was difficult to navigate, thanks to all the clutter on the floor, but she managed to only stumble once, so that was something at least. She lay Pidge down, covering her in a single blanket. The girl was still shivering and muttering to no one in particular. Allura gave her a quick scan with her data pad, getting a temperature reading of 103.7 in whatever units it was that Shiro had set it to. Her eyes widened. Hadn’t Shiro said the normal was 98 or so?

Coran had given her supplies to help, and she fumbled around with them a bit until she found some cooling pads. She activated them and placed them Pidge’s forehead and a few other spots on her body. Hopefully that would help. 

Allura sat beside Pidge for awhile, occasionally checking her temperature and seeing it start to decline, much to her relief. 

After a few vargas passed, Pidge opened her eyes and looked around in confusion. Allura leaned forward eagerly, but only got a hazy stare in return. 

“Pidge? Can you hear me? How are you feeling?” Allura asked.

“…’Llura?” Pidge slurred, lifting her head a little, “Wha…” 

“You’re sick. I found you passed out in the…” Allura trailed off; it didn’t seem like Pidge was hearing anything she said. 

She watched as Pidge groaned and her head flopped back down on her pillow. She was sweating and her whole body was shivering like she’d been dowsed in ice. When she opened her eyes again, they were glassy, and her breathing was heavy, and she was _wheezing_…

Allura bit her lip in worry. Maybe she should call Coran.

She stood up to go to the intercom on the wall but was stopped as a hand latched onto her arm with a lightning-fast grip. 

“Don’t!” Pidge rasped.

“Wha-? Pidge, it’s okay! I’m just going over to the-"

“No!” Pidge gasped with a sudden bought of heavy coughs. 

Alarmed, Allura helped her sit up, rubbing her back and feeling useless as Pidge coughed for what felt like an eternity. Finally, they stopped, and Pidge leaned her head against Allura’s shoulder. Her breaths came out in tiny gasps. Allura could feel Pidge’s burning skin pressed against her own and felt a rush of sympathy for the poor girl. 

“Please…” Pidge continued after she got a little strength back, “Please… stay.”

“…Okay… but are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable with one of your friends here? Shiro’s probably still awake I can go call...” she trailed off as, to her horror, Pidge started _crying_.

“Don’t leave me. I’m _sorry_,” Pidge sobbed, sounding so lost and confused it made Allura’s throat constrict.

“It’s okay Pidge, there’s no need to be sorry-" but she was cut off as Pidge was nearing hysterics now. She'd gotten both arms around Allura and was gripping her weakly, but desperately. Allura was almost petrified, she had no idea what to do, and she was afraid to move an inch. 

“Please, Mom…” Pidge whimpered to Allura's utter confusion, “I’m sorry I left. I’m so sorry. I know I’m the worst daughter in the universe, but... please don’t leave me, too...”

Allura’s stomach dropped. Oh, no…

“Oh, Pidge, you are _not_ the worst daughter in the universe; you’re out here, working yourself to death trying to find your brother and father. She’ll understand. Your mother still loves you, I promise.” Allura fumbled with the words, just trying to get some comfort to the sobbing girl wrapped around her. 

It didn’t seem to help; Pidge wasn’t acting as if she heard anything. Allura wished someone else would walk through the door and rescue her from this; preferably Lance or Hunk, but she would even take Keith right now. 

Honestly, _even Keith_ would probably be better at this than she was. 

Allura sighed and put one hand on Pidge’s head, threading her fingers gently through her hair. She figured she could just let Pidge cry it out for awhile. 

After a moment, Allura realized Pidge had relaxed against her. She glanced down to see Pidge was asleep. Allura sighed in relief and readjusted her until she was laying on her back again. Her breathing was still wheezy, and her face was wet with tears, but she actually looked a little better. She was still sweaty and shivering though. 

A quick scan from her data pad showed that her temperature had decreased drastically. 

She sighed in relief, Pidge was going to be just fine.

Allura was exhausted, but she was hesitant to leave Pidge. She didn’t want to imagine what would happen if she woke up confused and alone… 

She found herself moving before she could change mind. She curled up next to Pidge, wrapping her arms around her as she tucked them both under the blanket. Her heart warmed as Pidge cuddled closer to her in response.

Allura was just drifting off when she heard the door open. Annoyed, she looked over her shoulder to see Shiro quietly shuffling into the room, arms filled with several water packs. He caught Allura’s eye, and in the light of the hall she could see his face twitch into a little half-smile at the sight of them curled up together.

She huffed at him and lay her head back on the pillow, face growing warm. She heard him moving around some junk next to the bed so he could leave the weather pouches for them. 

“How is she?” he asked quietly, peering over her to look at Pidge. 

“The last temperature reading was 100.2 and she’s been sleeping ever since we got here,” Allura reported, electing to leave out the bit where Pidge had a guilt-fueled breakdown about her mother. She assumed that, if Pidge remembered it at all, she’d likely be embarrassed by it. 

The girl tried very hard to keep people from seeing her as a child.

“Good,” Shiro replied, “Call me if you need anything.”

“What, no more questions?” Allura asked, surprised to see him leaving so soon. 

“She’s in good hands,” he said simply. He smiled over his shoulder as the door closed behind him, leaving them in the dark and the quiet once more.  
Allura’s heart swelled and she turned her attention back to Pidge, who was talking in her sleep. She went back to stroking Pidge’s hair and was delighted to hear a sigh of contentment in response. 

Allura eventually fell asleep to Pidge mumbling nonsense and asking for her mother.

***

Pidge awoke the next day in a confused haze. 

The first thing she noticed was that she was way too warm and her whole body ached.

The second thing she noticed was that she was snuggled up to someone and, considering the ridiculous amount of hair all around her, it could only be one person. 

She blinked her eyes open and was astounded to find that she was indeed pressed against Allura, with her face tucked up under the older alien's chin. 

Okay, this was weird. Had she fallen asleep in the lab again? Wait. She was clearly sick. Had _Allura_ brought her here and stayed with her the whole night…? That was weird. But not at all unwelcome.

She just felt kinda bad that the _princess_ was currently wrapped around a gross, sweaty, snotty mess.

Pidge covered her face as a round of coughing began. As it subsided, she realized Allura was running her fingers through her hair. She muttered something Pidge didn’t catch.  
It felt… nice. And strangely comforting. 

Pidge sighed curled closer to Allura. 

No point in waking her. 

An amused purr rumbled in the back of her mind and Pidge could _feel_ the relief from Green.

She smiled. She felt so at peace. She hadn’t felt like this since before Kerberos…

She shook the thought off, choosing instead to drift off in the arms of her friend as her Lion hummed her back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Normal people: Season 8 was not great =/  
Me, sobbing as I re watch it for the fifth time: But Allura and Pidge actually interacted! Multiple times! 
> 
> Seriously, though, I just wanted to see them be friends. Also, I had the flu really bad a few months ago. Passed out and had to be taken to the emergency room, so that's kinda where this is coming from. I'm also currently being murdered by allergies, so that sucks :( I feel Pidge on a spiritual level, is what I'm saying.


End file.
